Enjoy the voyage

The Duluth Yacht Club’s mission is to create, foster and encourage a camaraderie amongst all sailors and boaters in the Duluth-Superior area. Crews were out racing on July 14.

Make the most of Lake Superior by being on it

By Beverly Godfrey Duluth News

Tribune

Earlier this year, National Geographic wrote about kayaking on Lake Superior with the headline, “What it’s like to kayak the most dangerous Great Lake.” That’s not hyperbole. Anyone giving encouragement to get out on the big lake should responsibly also mention how dangerous it can be. It’s cold; it’s deep; the waves are big, and the wind can change. Dive in with the risk of cracking your head on billion-year-old basalt. Little kids will mistake it for the ocean, and they’re not totally wrong.

Performances

From Page 1 with their mix of fan faves and original tunes, and Turn Turn Turn, a Twin Cities Trio of Adam Levy, Barb Brynstad and Savannah Smith that leans retro. Earth Rider Fest gates open at noon Sept. 11. Tickets for sale at eventbrite.com.

Parr-ty at the ’Shor

Nov. 5

Charlie Parr never goes out of style. For years, the folk-blues musician has been drawing crowds of humans to listen to him sing stories and play wicked guitar. He can make an entire room shake with bouncing bodies; he can sit in a corner of a small room

Swimming on Park Point

For beach swimming, head downtown, through Canal Park, across the lift bridge and choose one of several spots that access the lakeside sandy beach. Unlike other parts of Lake Superior that drop off like a quarterpipe, the water by Park Point is waistdeep farther out than you’ll feel comfortable going. Keeping the danger theme in mind, though, be aware that rip currents can occur. (Swim sideways out of them, not straight back toward shore!) Watch for the flags indicating swimming conditions and stay out of the water if red flags are flying.

Vista Boat

A Vista Boat ride might be the most touristy thing that locals do, too. Narrated tours are offered through mid-October and pick up again in May. For about $20, you can pretend you’re a millionaire on an actual yacht on the actual biggest lake in the world. It’s fun, friendly — and breezy; take a jacket. Visit vistafleet.com.

Charter Fishing

Maybe the parents are in town, and they want to treat you. About $550 can get your group a half-day on a charter fishing boat; $800 for a full day. A list of companies can be found at visitduluth.com, all of which provide the boat, equipment and expertise. Maybe you’ll bring home dinner, maybe not. But it will be a day to remember either way.

Sailing

Sailing isn’t one of those things you just pick up and do. There is a learning curve, but sailors in town will teach you. The DuluthSuperior Sailing Association has opportunities for community members to use their boats from June through September. Visit sailingforall.org. You’ll see members of the Duluth Yacht Club out racing on Wednesdays in the summer. Visit duluthyachtclub.com.

Rowing

The Duluth Rowing Club has a long history and new facilities on the bay side of Park Point. You can learn to row, or row to compete. Lessons for beginners are offered in June. The season runs from mid-May through mid-October. A young adult annual membership is $200. Visit duluthrowing.org.

Kayaking

And finally, the activity that National Geographic brought to light. The Apostle Islands on Lake Superior’s South Shore is a popular spot for more serious trips. But you’ll also see people using Park Point, Brighton Beach or anywhere in-between as a put-in spot for kayaks and paddle boards. Rentals will cost $30$40 for an hour or two. Find a list under “sports and recreation” at visitduluth.com. Wear a life jacket, mind the weather, and don’t flail your arms around unless you’re really in danger. People will call 911.

and sing for 12. One of Duluth’s most beloved artists recently released “Last of the Better Days.” He described it as a simple quiet record on Facebook, prefacing it with: “I got quieter this last year, I gained weight

Graduating

From Page 1 interview, every story, added to my knowledge of the community and my own skill set. Prior to my job at the Pine Journal, I liked to think of myself as an expert in all things writing. I was always the one to edit my friends’ papers in college and high school. Grammar was my jam, and I had the A’s to prove it.

So writing for a living should be easy, right? Wrong.

It didn’t take long for me to realize I had some growing to do. Even my most well-written stories had room for improvement, and making those improvements wasn’t always easy.

Reading over edits to my work, I would sometimes wonder if I had made a huge mistake majoring in journalism — maybe I wasn’t even that good of a writer. Maybe I was, God forbid, average.

On top of that, every once in a while, my gut would twist as I realized there was a mistake in a story. The first correction I wrote felt like a sledgehammer to my thin wall of confidence.

I cried. I ranted to my mom. I debated smashing my phone.

But then I realized, it was all OK. These corrections, these improvements, were how I was going and practiced at doing absolutely nothing. I waited a bit longer before answering questions, then more often than not didn’t answer them at all because I realized that I didn’t know the answer, that I never did know the answer. I read slower, I practiced guitar slower, I walked slower and drove slower. I became smaller.” Parr plays fairly often, but a big one will be his performance on Nov. 5 at the NorShor Theater. A big bonus here is the inclusion of Lanue, the woozy oozy and lush solo project of Sarah Krueger. Life hack: Always see Lanue when you can. Buy tickets at norshortheatre.com/ single-tickets. to grow. Everyone has been wrong before, and everyone has room to improve in their work. Even Woodward and Bernstein were given edits. Finding balance for myself was crucial, whether it was balancing selfcriticism with self-praise or balancing a good work ethic with personal time. Balance gave me sanity, and I stopped panicking long enough to actually enjoy my job.

Christa Lawler is a features reporter for the Duluth News Tribune. Reach her at clawler@duluthnews.com.

I met so many amazing people and learned more than I could have ever wanted — and this experience was just the tip of the iceberg. It has been almost a year since I graduated college, and honestly, I still don’t know what’s next … and I’m good with that, because I know that no matter what I do, I’ll definitely learn and grow from it.

So I guess if you made it this far in my “how to adult” rant and if you’re looking for some kind of summary, I would say this: Nobody knows how to adult. You will have more to learn after college, and that’s OK. You might make mistakes, and that’s OK. You might realize the career you wanted isn’t for you, and that’s OK.

Remember to go easy on yourself and find that balance wherever you may need it. College is just the beginning.

Ride the waves

This is an area of much sporting, whether it’s the men’s and women’s college hockey teams that tend to fare well or the local curling team that won the 2018 U.S. men’s gold medal at the Winter Games in South Korea. We host Grandma’s Marathon every year. People like to hit the trails, for hiking, biking and running, and for a while, there were paramotor pilots who would spend leisure time in Duluth’s friendly skies. But the most interesting of all of these might be the athletes who surf on Lake Superior during its wildest moments of weather. When the gales get going, scan the horizon for these humans and their boards.

Big waves draw surfers — even on Lake Superior. John Hatcher of Duluth hit up Stoney Point in 2013. File / News Tribune

OFun facts about your new city

By Christa Lawler Duluth News Tribune

Midnight snack attack

The next time you crank your oven up to 425 degrees and slide a pan of Totino’s Pizza Rolls into the oven, know this: That single bite — whether it’s triple meat or triple cheese — has its origin story in Duluth, Minnesota, where a man with a background in the grocery business invented the fingerful of snack. Jeno Paulucci, who grew up on the Iron Range, established himself in the prepackaged food scene in the 1950s when he created a brand of Chinese food. With the pizza roll, he reportedly took the flavors of his Italian roots and served it in an egg roll. He later sold his company, and Jeno’s Pizza Rolls became Totino’s Pizza Rolls, according to his obituary in the New York Times.

But have you tried it with ice cream?

Likewise, the next time you thwap a round of ice cream next to your blueberry pie, consider that the entire concept of Pie a la Mode might have been invented here. Maybe. While some will claim that Charles Watson Townsend invented it in the late 1890s when he ordered the combo at the Cambridge Hotel in Cambridge, New York, then repeated his order at Delmonico’s restaurant in New York City. Or you can believe the story that John Gieriet, of the Hotel La Perl in Duluth, was serving ice cream and warm blueberry pie about a decade earlier. The proof might be in an ad from the Duluth Daily Tribune that lists the menu at Gieriet’s place, including pies ranging from mincemeat to lemon to blueberry. Vanilla ice cream is on the menu, too, a former News Tribune editor noted in a conversation about it on Perfect Duluth Day, but not adjacent to the pies.

Waterborne superlatives

Lest you forget the magnitude of that giant body of water, remember that Lake Superior is, surface-area-wise, the biggest freshwater lake in the world — though, the magic asterisk, a few other lakes hold more water. It might seem weird to know that, technically, a human could take this route to the Atlantic Ocean. Likewise, that sandbar that briefly separates Lake Superior from the Superior Bay, is one of the largest freshwater sandbars in the world. Sure, people live on it, but it’s for you, too: To run the six-ish miles from one end to the other, to launch your kayak from, to fill a bucket with sand and start building.

Hit the open road

Speaking of traveling from here to there, you can also get from Duluth to Laredo Texas, via Interstate 35. It’s about a 1,500mile route and might take 24 hours. Along the way, you pass through Des Moines, Wichita, Kansas; and San Antonio, Texas.

We’re Duluth

Duluth is a popular name-drop when characters in movies and on TV, or comedians on podcasts want to describe a Midwesterner — using specific language of the region. The Aerial Lift Bridge was shown as a cake decoration in the finale of “The Gilmore Girls,” and Sarah Marshall of the podcast “You’re Wrong About” compared Princess Diana’s fashion to that of a mom from Duluth. There’s a book by Gore Vidal with the title “Duluth,” and some of the story’s topography resembles this area. A few old movies with stars of their time have been set here: “Iron Will,” “You’ll Like My Mother”; and others just reference here: “Tommy Boy,” “The Great Outdoors.” Best of all might be Maria Bamford — the comedian behind “Lady Dynamite” who grew up here, visits here, has set content here and says nice things about us. Christa Lawler is a features reporter. Reach her at clawler@duluthnews.com.